Michel Camilo
is better known as a jazz pianist and composer of film scores
than as a performer of “classical” music. It is this background
that makes him such an interesting interpreter of Gershwin's
more “serious” works. On this disc, he brings his considerable
technique and improvisational sensibilities to bear in masterful
and exciting readings.

The clarinettist
who opens the Rhapsody in Blue is suitably bluesy and
sets the tone for the orchestra's contribution – alive, individual
and idiomatically jazzy. I would not have been at all surprised
to be told that the orchestra supporting Camilo here was American,
so much do these musicians seem at ease in jazz. The trumpet
and clarinet licks are gorgeous.

To this great
orchestral playing, Camilo adds a chimerical element. His
pianism is electrifying, big-boned and resonant. He grips
the solo lines and takes them, and the listener, all over
the place. At one moment, you could be listening to a concerto
by Liszt, so grand are the chords from the keyboard. Then,
at about 2:50 in, there is a sudden change of tempo and a
sniff of ragtime to the solo. At 9:25 ragtime appears again,
and a minute later the same thematic material is given a honky-tonk
twist. Camilo sounds as if he is making up bits of the piano
part as he goes and this performance is none the worse for
that. The notes on the cardboard sleeve point out that Camilo
went back to Gershwin's original piano parts – the parts for
his original two piano version – in preparing his piano part
for this performance. How much of the improvisational feel
of this performance can be attributed to this textual study
on Camilo's part is impossible to say. In any case, this is
virtuoso playing that would be pilloried in traditional concerto
repertoire as wilful and disrespectful, but here it just feels
so right. Camilo has you hanging on every note, because you
simply do not know what he will do next. No matter how many
recordings you have of this piece, this one will fascinate.

Camilo and friends
apply a similarly high-energy approach to Gershwin's undervalued
Piano Concerto, with the timpani, brass and strings emphatically
jazzy, and with an edge, right from the get-go. This performance
is all rhythm and drive and simply carries you along. Again,
Camilo's big tone is fabulous and the orchestra is behind
him all the way. As befits a concerto, Camilo sticks to the
score, but nevertheless preserves the feel of spontaneity
that characterises his Rhapsody in Blue.

The prelude makes
for a bluesy encore - sensitively played, but a little anti-climactic
after the concerto. Perhaps it would have been better as an
interlude between the larger works. It is a useful bonus to
have, though, and brings the playing time up enough to prevent
complaints about short measure. Still, I would have loved
to hear what these forces could do with Ravel's G Major concerto
as an alternative filler!

I cannot figure
out the recording balances on this disc. Played on some of
my equipment, the sonic picture is perfect, but on other players
the piano is very much in the spot-light and the orchestra
sounds recessed. Turning up the volume seems to correct this
imbalance, but you may need to consider your neighbours before
employing this corrective strategy.

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